Black Cat of Hogwarts
by sakurademonalchemist
Summary: Niko Black, son of Sirius disappears with Harry ten years ago. He reappears as a mischievous muggleborn named Train Heartnet. How will the Magical World handle this pure blood assassin who turns Harry into number XIV? And will Saya be saved this time?
1. Chapter 1

Beginnings are such delicate things. Mess one thing up and the whole world feels it. Which is probably why Albus Dumbledore felt something snap in the world the day Niko Orion Black and Harry James Potter were born.

Niko had his father's hair and his mother's gold eyes. To their surprise when he first opened them, they were a golden amber...and cat shaped. Both Harry and Niko had unkempt hair that refused any brushes attempt to tame it. So when the dark lord looked for a child that was born to prophecy, he chose Harry. Not that Sirius took the chance with his son. He never trusted Peter as much as James, so he hid the child with another couple.

Harry went to Petunia's, and Niko disappeared from Dumbledore's radar.

So when a muggleborn named Train Heartnet appears ten years later, he's none the wiser to the boy's true identity. Even the fact that his precious boy-who-lived, the soon to be Gryffindor Golden Boy, regards this child as a brother immediately upon meeting him, he still suspects nothing.

Train is a rather unremarkable boy of five feet, three inches. His hair stuck out every which way. His eyes shown with mischief in an amber glow. Even his coat didn't stand out. It was close enough to a cloak that most others wore.

But...Train Heartnet wasn't an ordinary boy. He had a tattoo on his chest with the roman numerals XIII. He had a rather heavy gun with the same markings. Even the way he held himself was odd. He acted like a seasoned auror. Like someone who had seen death and killed.

When Train entered the pet store, his eyes were immediately drawn to the cats. He understood cats...and they understood him. He even fed the stray that came onto his roof. He spotted a small black kitten being bullied by it's litter mates. He easily scooped it up, and held it. He could feel the rumbling purr.

He looked the kitten over once he got out. It was a velvety black that reminded him of something from his childhood. It's eyes were a sparkling sapphire and it had a folded ears.

He named it Padfoot.

* * *

Harry recognized the boy in the bookstore immediately. He couldn't say where he remembered him, but he knew he could trust him.

"Hi! My names Harry!"

Train stared at the boy who just walked up to him. He remembered him from when he was little. The emerald-eyed boy haunted his few good dreams left.

"Call me Neko."

Harry cocked his head.

"Isn't that Japanese for Cat?"

Train was impressed. Not many actually knew that fact.

"Yup."

They bought their books, and several that weren't on the list. Train was sponsored by someone. Someone who wanted contacts in the Magical world.

* * *

Train rented the house next to Harry's, and Harry spent the rest of the summer there. When it came to the train, Neko (as he now called himself to keep his job a secret) came up with the idea to check the pillars. Which is why Harry missed the Weasly clan by half an hour.

Harry and Neko were greeted by a bleach-blonde boy named Draco. Neko liked the kid's name right away, and said so.

"And what's yours?"

"Call me Neko Black...though in the muggle world I go by Train Heartnet."

"Neko Black suits you. My mother's maiden name is Black. It's an old family."

"I never knew my real family. I was adopted when I was a year old."

"I was stuck with my aunt at the same age."

Soon they were describing their family life. Harry won the most traumatic, Draco for most spoiled, and Neko for most interesting. He even brought out Padfoot. Draco introduced his cat Precious. They struck up a friendship immediately.

When a girl came by looking for a toad, Neko mentioned it went towards the back. She thanked him and left. Harry and Draco bought most of the trolley as they ate the sweets. Neko started grinning like a loon when he found milk-flavored snacks. The other two gladly gave them all to Neko.

"I like milk and cats."

A red-haired boy with a bit of dirt came in, asking for a place to sit. Neko threw him down the hallway into a card tower being built by two older twin boys.

"INCOMING!"

_SNAP!_

"I'm sure the hair will grow back...eventually!" snickered Neko. He actually laughed as the twins gave him a standing ovation and a ghostly ten from their wands.

"Why did you throw him out?" asked Harry reproachfully.

"I could hear him when we were boarding. He was claiming he would become the 'boy-who-lived' best friend. He was quite loud too."

Harry flinched at the name, and Neko gave him a look.

"Spill."

Harry held up his bangs, which covered a lightning scar on his forehead.

Draco looked genuinely shocked.

"You mean you're _the_ Harry Potter?"

"Unfortunately. It's not like I asked for a nut job to kill my parents."

"And its not like I wanted a madman to kill my adopted parents. But I moved on and ended up with a mentor who taught me a skill that let me live," said Neko, completely understanding.

"Harry, can you imagine what would happen if you told everyone what Dumbledore did to you? Placing you with a family that treated you worse than a house-elf?" said Draco.

"No..."

"Dumbledore would be held accountable for child neglect. Hell, there is an entire department in the Ministry dedicated to the welfare of orphaned wizards!"

"Wait, could someone adopt him before we leave school?"

"If Harry is serious about the abuse, yes."

"In that case, I'll have to owl someone in the organization that I work for. They've been pairing me off with that crazy-ass Creed for long enough!"

As they stepped off the train and into the boats, Neko, Harry and Draco found themselves with another boy named Neville.

"Aren't you the kid with the missing toad?" asked Neko.

Neville looked ashamed, and timid at the same time.

"Yes."

"I'm Neko. This is Harry and that's Draco. Nice to meet you Neville."

Neville seemed surprised that Neko had held out his hand. He took it anyway.

A new friend was made.

* * *

Soon they would be sorted...and to the boy's surprise, the whole affair was anticlimactic to say the least.

"An old hat... Really? That's the best they could come up with?"

Neko wasn't the least bit scared by the ghosts.

_Ah, Mr. Heartnet. Or should I say Niko Orion Black? Yes my boy, I knew your father. And you're no muggleborn student. You're a pure-blood that slipped through Dumbledore's fingers. Now where to put you?_

Put me with Harry.

_Dumbledore wants him in Gryffindor. He told me to place the Black heir, should he appear, in Slytherin._

I'm a stray cat who goes where he pleases. I won't listen to some barmy old coot who places children in abusive homes.

_In that case..._

"_SLYTHERIN!"_

An audible gasp was heard from the green and silver table. A muggleborn in Slytherin?

_Ah, Mr. Potter. I've been expecting you for some time. I see you've already found the Black heir. No surprise there. Your parents were like brothers too._

Black? You mean Draco?

_You mean you didn't know? I meant your friend Mr. Heartnet. I can see you two will deal with the old meddler quite easily. So where do you want to go? I can place you in any of the houses, you'd fit in._

I want to be with Neko and Draco.

_Very well, I hope you find what you're looking for in..._

"_SLYTHERIN!"_

Potter and a muggleborn? This was unheard of! The next student was sorted in silence before the clapping resumed.

Neko, Harry and Draco sat next to each other. Across from them were Draco's bodyguards Crabbe and Goyle. Much to Neko's delight, they were serving milk at dinner. Soon they were heading to the dorm.

* * *

Harry seemed to understand the snake in the portrait, but kept it to himself. Neko and Draco took the beds closest to the window, and Harry swiped the one next to Neko. Blaise Zabini was the only other boy in the room. Crabbe, Goyle and Nott had a room across from them.

Neko pulled something out, and handed it to Harry. Surprised, he took it.

"What is it?"

"You'll see in the morning. I'm guessing you have nightmares too?"

"How did you know that?"

"I used to have them until I finally learned to live with them. Having Padfoot helps actually. That's what I used to keep them at bay."

Harry woke up the next morning and finally saw what Neko had given him. It was a black dog with a collar around it's neck. The collar read "Sirius" in blue.

Harry stretched, and then looked to Neko. The other boy was yawning widely...and he had long canines like a cat.

"Thanks."

"You can keep it if you want. I can handle the nightmares now..."

How had Neko known he had reoccurring nightmares?

"Come on. Let's find the hall! I'm starving!"

Neko then spotted Draco still asleep. Harry grinned...as Neko threw a cold glass of water on the boy who woke up spitting nails.

"Dammit Dobby! I'm up!"

"Morning to you too sunshine."

Harry was laughing his head off. Blaise walked in amused.

Severus Snape wasn't happy. Not only did the Potter boy dare to get himself sorted into _his_ house, but a muggleborn as well! The year was already starting to show how bad it would be. He took a migraine potion before heading out to hand out schedules.

Neko had an entire pitcher of milk to himself. The others weren't dumb enough to stand between him and milk. Not so for the red-haired boy from the train. He walked up with a swagger, and attempted to knock it aside.

Neko proved to be as catlike as his name suggested.

He took the pitcher out of the way and hissed at the boy. Harry looked amused...until Ron insulted his friends.

Draco took initiative and hexed him. Snape came up and said "Ten points from Gryffindor. It's too damn early for your bravado."

Neko, Harry and Draco snickered.

"I'd have to agree with you there, professor. I wouldn't tolerate his idiocy without coffee first thing in the morning either," said Neko.

Neko, Harry and Draco headed to the classroom, after asking Snape for directions first.

* * *

Neko took one look at the tabby on the desk and gave it some of the milk he'd swiped from the great hall.

So he was genuinely surprised to see the tabby turn into the teacher!

"Twenty points to Slytherin for being kind to animals."

Neko grinned when Ron and Seamus arrived late.

(Neko had spotted Neville looking lost and brought him to the classroom on the way there.)

Everything was great for the week. Neko, Draco and Harry enjoyed class, earned points for un-Slytherin behavior, and generally confused the teachers. So when Neko met Hagrid, he was in a good mood.

"Down Fang!"

Neko grinned.

"That's a cool name for a dog."

* * *

Neko was bored with flying lessons before they even had them! Then they found out that Ron would be there too...which made him not that enthusiastic.

And when he saw the brooms...his enthusiasm dropped even lower.

As Neville kicked off too early, Neko was prepared to catch him. Everyone else stood there. Neville was caught by his robes. Neko ran and just managed to catch him before he hit the ground.

Neville was shaking.

"Relax Nev. You're back on Terra Firma."

"Huh?"

Neko put Neville down calmly. He then picked up the ball Neville's Gran sent him and handed it to the trembling boy.

"Any pain?"

"No..."

"Best head the hospital wing to make sure."

Neville went to the hospital wing with Madam Hooch behind him, to make sure he didn't faint. When she got back they continued...after she awarded Neko fifty points for not only saving Neville from serious injury, but helping a rival house.

Hermione was as full of nerves as Neville. While they were hovering, her broom kept going up! Neko kicked off hard, and grabbed her by the waist. Putting her on his broom, he carefully landed a moment later.

"Why do I have to keep saving Gryffindor first years today?" Neko asked out loud.

Hermione blushed heavily...mainly because Neko was still holding onto her.

"Sorry," he said as he let go.

Slytherin earned another twenty-five points.

Harry was flying with Neko, who had snuck out to get some fresh air. Unknown to them, Hooch was watching from the stands. Watching Neko punch away the ball that Harry had thrown, she came to a decision. Then she saw Harry catch a small ball that Neko threw at him from a fifty-foot drop!

"Potter! Heartnet!"

They landed and she took them to Snape.

"I found you a new seeker and beater."

Eyes raised a bit.

"We only wanted to get some fresh air..." mumbled Neko.

"You're not in trouble. In fact it means you two are on the house team. Youngest in a century. So who's my seeker and who's the beater?"

"Potter caught a small ball out of a fifty foot drop. And Heartnet hit a large one at least a hundred feet with a piece of wood."

"Thank you Madam Hooch."

Flint wasn't too happy about Neko being on the team. Until he saw how Neko easily tracked the bludgers and kept sending him to the other beater. So he kept the grumbling to a minimum.

* * *

The first game. Harry was a bundle of nerves until Neko promised to keep the evil balls away from him. With a laugh.

As Harry scanned the stadium for a glint of gold, Neko noticed something odd. A strange light was heading to Harry!

Neko knew something was off when Harry's broom began to buck. He flew to the twins, and said "Someone's jinxing his broom!"

"Who?"

Neko followed the light. Why was the DADA teacher trying to kill Harry? He told the twins to send a bludger his way to stop the one responsible.

A black blur came to Neko. With precision matching his usual shooting skill, he sent the bludger directly at the stand towards Quirrel. It hit the man hard on the chest. At that moment Harry's broom quit bucking.

Hooch gave Gryffindor a penalty.

But Snape didn't care, as Harry saw the Snitch and grabbed it out of the air before the penalty could be used.

The party was enormous. Neko was now an official Slytherin in the eyes of the pure-bloods. Seems his way of stopping the jinx appealed to the upperclassman. It didn't hurt that Quirrel was in St. Mungo's for a week due to the damage.

A week later they found themselves with a new defense teacher. To the shock of the school, Quirrel was found to be possessed by Voldemort while in St. Mungo's.

* * *

Neko and Harry found themselves in the Headmaster's office for some mundane charge. True to their house, they lay the blame on Ron. (He was the real reason they were out of bounds after curfew.)

"But sir, Ron challenged us!"

"Wizard's duels have been banned from the school for over thirty years. You will both receive detention."

Neko could feel something in the back of his head. Like someone was trying to get in. He started wincing after five minutes of it.

_He was stirring. The one who truly carried out the missions. The Thirteenth of Chronos. Someone was trying to harm his maker. So he pushed back._

Something shifted in Neko. Harry looked at his friend worried.

"Neko?"

"What is wrong mister Heartnet?"

"I'm not Heartnet."

Neko's eyes had shifted. More cat-like then before, he growled. Harry could sense the difference. This wasn't the Neko he knew. He grabbed the other boy and dragged him to the dorm.

"Neko, what's wrong?"

"Call me Kuro Neko. And that old man has the power to enter your mind. Keep your guard up Harry. He is not to be trusted."

"Why do you call yourself Black Cat?"

"Because I deliver bad luck."

"Does this have to do with that gun you always carry?"

"Hades. I've had it only two weeks before I was sent here."

Harry seemed to think of something.

"Can you teach me?"

Black Cat stopped. Surely he hadn't heard him right?

"You can't honestly want to know how to...?"

"Yes, I do. I'm tired of Uncle Vernon beating me and throwing me into that damn cupboard."

"There will be no turning back if this is really what you want. I teach you, you will be sacrificing a part of your innocence."

"What innocence?"

"Fine. I'll ask the house-elves for a place to practice. I'll get the gun."

* * *

Harry entered the room that Neko had found. When asked, Draco said he'd give the cover story.

"First things first. You must swear never to even touch the gun I'm giving you without me present. I don't want you to shoot your foot or kill someone."

"I swear I will never take a gun out until you say I'm ready to handle one on my own."

"Good. The first lesson is gun care. When you can clean and check your gun without thinking, then we'll move on."

Harry spent the next two weeks learning to clean and check a gun. He was a quick learner. On Halloween, Neko finally gave his friend a new task. Now he had to load a gun barrel and then unload it until it became automatic. It took Harry a week to get it down to an art.

By the time Christmas rolled around, Harry was finally learning to sharp shoot. He had impeccable aim. Neko would even say that he was a natural.

Harry woke up Christmas day to find...

"Presents?"

"Yup. That big box on your legs is from me. Merry Christmas!"

Harry opened it first. Inside was a stag, a tiger and a wolf. Each had a collar.

"Prongs, Lily and Moony. Where did you get these?"

"I remembered these animals from when I was a kid. I figured that Sirius was my dad, Padfoot. I think Prongs and Lily were your parents."

"I wonder if Moony is still around."

"He is. That box on the left is from him. I got one too."

Harry opened the presents. He never seen so many!

When Harry pulled out the cloak, he was astonished to find himself invisible.

"Cool! Maybe Dray will know what that is!"

* * *

The Christmas season was hell. Snape hated it with a passion. It was full of good cheer and all that nonsense. And no one ever cared about him or even wished him a "Merry Christmas" with any sincerity except Albus, but he didn't count.

Severus got up, and found...three boxes at his bed.

"What the hell?"

He opened the first box and found a black fox with Lily's old nickname for him. The second had a silver green snake with the Slytherin symbol and a note that said "Merry Christmas Uncle Sev!"

The handwriting was Harry's...he'd recognize that atrocious handwriting anywhere. He looked at the bottom of the first box, and realized it was from Train 'Neko' Heartnet.

"I figured you could use some actual cheer. I remember Aunt Lily used to call you by that name whenever you turned into your animal form. If it brings up bad memories, then maybe we should make some new ones. Neko."

The third box was from both boys. Inside were some potions ingredients that he had been wanting for some time but could never find in sufficient quantity. How had they known he needed these ingredients?

Then his brain backtracked.

'Wait...did Neko say...'

Snape reread the first note. Now he was sure of it. Neko wrote 'Aunt Lily' instead of something else. Why would he call her that unless his family had been close to the Potters?

Time for Snape to have a conversation with the most popular first year.

* * *

As usual Dumbledore gave Snape a ghastly set of colorful robes. Neko sat next to him and whispered... "I can make them disappear for you."

"How much?"

"Free. Harry needed something new to use for target practice."

"Deal."

Snape had Neko down the next morning. Harry was still sleeping off the late night with the stag doll on one side and Padfoot on the other.

"You wanted to see me sir?"

"Yes. First I want to thank you for those ingredients...and the dolls. That's the first time someone has bothered to even give me a present in years without being forced."

"You're welcome. Hanging around this castle has brought up some really old memories from my childhood with my birth parents. And I've seen how the others treat you."

"Second, there is the note you left. Why did you call Potter's mother Aunt Lily?"

"Because that's what I remember her being called."

"Who were your parents?"

"I don't remember my birth parents that much. And my adoptive parents were killed by a man with a gun. All I remember of my father is sapphire blue eyes and long black hair."

That fit a certain mutt. Could this boy actually be...?

"And the sorting hat said he knew my father. And that he was practically a brother to Harry's dad."

"Did the sorting hat give you a different name?"

"Niko...something. I wasn't paying attention."

_Niko...oh bloody hell it is him. Just my luck he ended up in my house with the Potter brat._

"I think I know who your father is. If I'm right, he's still alive."

Neko looked surprised. So his family was still kicking?

"But he's in Azkaban for supposedly killing Potter's parents and one of his old friends."

"Who is he?"

"Sirius Black."

Neko's eyes widened. He recognized the name! It was what he called his stuffed dog that kept the nightmares of those he killed at bay!

"Is there any way I can see him? To be sure?"

"We'll have to wait until the school lets out. What do you plan to tell Potter?"

"Just that there's a lead on my family...and that the custody problem should be dealt with by New Years."

"Custody?"

"Yeah, I'm freeing Harry from his relatives. People, and I use the term lightly, like them should not live another day."

"Bring in Potter. I want to know what is wrong with his relatives house."

"Yes sir."

Harry left the office with a weight off his shoulders. Snape not only knew his parents, but was his mother's best friend! Not only that, but the dour potions professor promised to lay off the insults.

He got his best present on New Years.

* * *

"Well Harry, once I declare you fit to work with me, you'll be my official partner. Your relatives are in jail facing child neglect and more serious charges, Dudley is being placed in the care of Marge Dursley, and you'll be living with me from now on."

"You mean it?"

"Yup. You just have to pass a test by IV, and then you'll be number XIV, my partner. You even get to choose a weapon which will have your number on it."

"But I can barely shoot a gun properly."

"Not true. I was going to tell you this later, but you've almost finished your training under me. We just need to focus on your mobility training... I tend to move fast to eliminate the target, so you'll have to learn to move quick to keep up Kitten."

"Kitten?"

"My code name is Black Cat, so yours will probably be Kitten as a joke."

"Anyone I should watch out for?"

"Creed is a crazy ass sword-wielder with an obsession on me. Other than the random fangirl after you because of the scar, that's about it."

"Kay."

* * *

Weeks passed, and Harry learned quick that either he moved with Neko or he got left behind. Neko had Harry wearing very heavy weights that he added to every time Harry could finally run without problems. Harry was becoming more agile every month now. Yet he kept his seeker's build despite all the food Neko gave him.

Then the exams came up, and it was study-hell. Draco, Neko, Blaise, Neville and Harry could been seen studying together for hours. It never bothered the others that one was from the rival house.

Draco covered Potions, Blaise astronomy and history of magic, Neville Herbology, Harry DADA and charms, while Neko covered transfiguration. They received some very welcome help from the twins, who had become co-conspirators with Neko.

When the exams finally ended, all the boys crashed on the lawn with relief.

"Damn...I thought training with Creed was bad. I never thought a brain could hurt worse than a broken bone!" said Neko.

"Thank god it's over!" said Draco.

They decided to visit Hagrid, to see if he had any new creatures to report. (Neko had actually subscribed to the Quibbler, saying it was a more interesting read than the Prophet.)

What they didn't expect was to be sidetracked by Dumbledore. Draco, Blaise and Neville continued to Hagrid's, while Neko and Harry were forced to go with the headmaster.

"What's this about, sir?" said Neko stiffly. He had a feeling Dumbledore would interfere, and he didn't like it.

"Why did you contact your sponsor to remove Harry from the Dursley family?"

"I don't know what you're playing at, old man, but I will not have a friend be forced to live in an abusive home!"

"I'm afraid Harry must remain there for his protection..." started Dumbledore with what was no doubt a well rehearsed speech.

"My _protection_? Death Eaters cannot be as bad as those..._things_!"

"Now Harry, you..."

"Don't you bloody _DARE_ tell me what to do! You have no right to say where I will live! My relatives have almost killed me at least five times a year, at least!"

Dumbledore seemed somewhat surprised at this information. They he saw the look in Harry's eyes, there was obviously more.

Neko left with Harry, and told him, "There's nothing Dumbledore can do about it. Once you pass the test he'll never have any say over you except when it comes to schooling."

"How soon can I take the test?"

"Someone will pick us up at the station. You'll have a week to prepare, then if you pass you'll be number fourteen, and my partner."

* * *

Harry felt a compulsion to leave the dorm that night. Neko, a bit of a night owl, was looking at the moon when he saw Harry stumble out of bed. He grabbed Harry, and whispered, "The Black Cat of Hades walks the night."

Harry awoke at the sound of his friend's voice.

"Neko?"

"You were sleepwalking...which is highly unusual. You don't sleepwalk."

"I don't know why... I felt compelled to go somewhere."

Neko stayed up the whole night and kept Harry from leaving the room. The compulsion stopped by morning. As they were leaving, Neko was humming a tune. It sounded quite catchy.

"Why don't you sing it already," Draco grumbled.

"Fine."

"_Tell me what time it is,_

_Come into my dreams and embrace me._

_I can still remember my beloved hometown._

_Thanks to the photo album we made together._

_But why am I alone?_

_I'm so alone._

_I knew immediately that it was only a dream._

_I run towards the dry woods._

_I need to kick something._

_I'm looking for a way out of this dream._

_I need to leave quickly._

_I need to leave quickly._

_I know your voice; I heard it somewhere._

_I can only move in time._

_But that so called eternity is not infinite._

_Tell me what time it is,_

_Come into my dreams and embrace me._

_Make my heart, which has stopped, start moving again._

_Please._

_You are at my side,_

_But you're probably seeing a different dream._

_I don't need the sun._

_All I long for now is your smile."_

"What is that?"

"Theme to Jigoku Shoujo season two. I liked the song, so I sing it sometimes."

"It suits you."

"I've heard that a lot actually."

When they arrived at the station, Neko groaned in dismay.

"Why in the nine hells did they send_ him_ to pick us up?"

The man waiting for them was wearing the strangest outfit Harry had ever seen. Judging by the outfit alone, he would say the man preferred male company.

"Who's he?"

"Creed Diskenth. The guy they usually pair me off with on missions. For the love of kami, please pass that test Kitten!"

After five minutes of being around Creed, Harry could tell he had an unhealthy fascination with Neko...

Harry disliked him immediately.

Thanks to Neko's training...he passed the test easily. He had taken off the weights before going in. He had the gun that Train gave him, declaring him ready to shoot on his own. But not before he gave a warning Harry understood too well.

"Don't point that gun at anything you don't want dead. And you better not come crying to me if you get hurt with it because you were careless. If someone takes it from you, that's another story."

"Yes sir!" Harry saluted with the hand not holding the gun at at the ground away from his foot.

A week later, Harry got the tattoo on the same spot as Train. He received a gun like Hades, only his was named Zeus.

And just like Train had predicted, his nickname was Kitten.


	2. Chapter 2

Harry spent a fairly unusual summer. After receiving his official number and becoming Train's permanent partner, he assisted the Black Cat in assassinations. All he had to do was make sure that the target didn't escape.

And all they had to do to make sure he didn't get squeamish was tell him the things they did. Harry soon quit asking, as he just pretended it was his uncle and aunt instead.

One of the things he learned about Chronos was that it was dedicated to taking down those who cause trouble to world peace. He didn't care as long as he was Train's partner, he would follow orders.

But the main thing he learned was that he absolutely could not stand Creed. The man was a bloody nuisance, always at the site of the target. He drove Harry nuts.

* * *

Harry lived with Train at his apartment, and helped feed the stray cat. One his first solo mission, Harry found his own phrase which cracked Train up. (He stole it from Train's favorite anime, Jigoku Shoujo...)

"Oh pitiful soul cloaked in darkness. Thy actions cause men pain and suffering. Thy hollow soul drowns in thy sins."

When he reached the target, he delivered his own phrase...

"How would you like to see what death is like?"

(Harry secretly hoped to deliver that line to his uncle one day. He intended to make that tub of lard _pay._)

* * *

Harry was at the firing range when the elf appeared. Carrying his mail...

"I is Dobby sir. Dobby the house elf."

"Is that my mail? Why do you have it?"

By the time Dobby left, Harry still didn't have his mail. But now he knew something would prevent him from entering the barrier. So he and Train looked up alternatives to the express.

When Harry and Neko arrived in the alley, their first stop was the bank.

"Excuse me. I was wondering if you did bloodline tests," said Neko.

"Follow me," said Griphook.

Four drops of blood later, and Neko gaped at the result.

**Niko Orion Black**

**Father: Sirius Orion Black**

**Mother: Rena Anne Ipswich**

**Grandmother: Walpurga Black**

**Grandfather: Orion Black**

"The missing Black heir. It was rumored that your father killed you!" said Griphook in shock.

"IRONCLAW! GET IN HERE!"

Another goblin came in, wondering why the one in charge of the Potter account had yelled. Seeing the results of the test, he looked surprised.

"I'll be damned. The Black heir and the Ipswich heir."

"Who is Ipswich?"

"I'm amazed you don't know. Ipswich is the name of one of the original pure-bloods from the colonies. You're the last of the bloodline in England. As for the Black line, you're the last heir that hasn't been associating with Voldemort."

"Which would make you Lord Black...or Lord Ipswich if you prefer."

"Black suits me better. My nickname is actually Black Cat."

Ironclaw had Neko sign some papers, and then lead them to his new vaults. Inside the Ipswich vault were some books on the old Salem days. And spells that were long since banned by the Ministry in England...but not in America. Harry stayed outside with Griphook, and actually asked about his vault.

"The Potter family has several vaults, some of which are not accessible until you reach 17."

"I have more that one vault?"

Griphook stared hard at Harry.

"You should be receiving statements about your vaults each month."

"I've never even heard about these vaults until you just told me. I've never even received a statement about the one I _do _know about."

"What?"

"Something wrong, Griphook?"

"We need to check on the Potter vault statements immediately. Something is going on if the heir hasn't received a single statement!"

They found over two million galleons worth of missing funds. Harry was furious. He asked that they be reclaimed with interest going to the goblin nation for alerting him to the truth. As a result, he gained a powerful ally with the Gringotts bank.

* * *

Train also discovered something important when he investigated Bellatrix Lestrange's vault. He found something with some major vibes coming from it. He asked the goblins to look at it, and found out it was a horcrux. He asked the goblins to destroy it. They removed the soul from the cup, and then alerted the Hufflepuff heirs to the discovery of the cup.

With the discovery of his vaults, Neko also found something useful in them. A bag with an infinite amount of space and a stasis field for anything food related. He took that, and several items out. Harry, after getting over the shock of having more than one vault, did the same. He found a trunk that would shrink with a word, had it's own kitchen and bedroom...and a large library only half filled.

Harry walked out of the bank furious. It wasn't until Neko suggested that they filled up a few of the library shelves that he calmed down. It proclaimed on a sign that a Gilderoy Lockhart was arriving in a few days. Neko read a few of the books he wrote out of boredom, then threw them down in disgust.

"Whoever wrote this is obviously making it up. I mean, there is no jinx that can cure the werewolf curse!"

When the book list came for the year, Neko growled.

"There is no way in hell I'm buying useless books!"

"What will you do when the teacher calls you on it?"

"Take the point deduction and tell them to assign an actual defense book."

They went on a shopping spree, buying defense books that were actually informative. Neko even found a book on animagi. He slipped into the pile and they left.

When they ran into Snape at the Apothecary, they asked him for advice on the potion mentioned in the book.

"So you want to become animagi like McGonagall, do you?"

"But I don't want to register, cause I don't see the point."

"I will help with the potion and the transformation process. But I want you to do a two parchment assignment on the process, and the potion."

Harry and Neko grinned. Compared to what they were about to learn, that would be easy!

* * *

At one point Neko found another alley next to the one he was used to. It was called Knockturn Alley.

Thinking of the things he'd heard from Draco and Blaise, he decided to take Harry down there to explore.

Both boys had their guns at their side, ready to be drawn. Hades and Zeus, the brothers of Greek mythology were now a set of guns.

Something Harry had noticed when he was shooting was that when he ran out of bullets, his gun shot pure magic, condensed. He convinced Train to try that, and his did the same. Where Harry's bullets came out emerald-sapphire, Train had a golden-onyx color.

They entered a store that sold things best left unmentioned.

Harry looked at hand of glory, a set of poisoned knives (which he was sorely tempted to buy and use on Creed), and several books. Looking through those, he found a few very useful spells. He picked up two, and met up with Neko at the front. He'd found some useful items as well.

"Oi! Put those things back unless you're buying!" growled the owner.

"We have sufficient funds. How much?"

They left fifty galleons less than before, but happier. Hiding their purchases, they made their way down the alley. They were left alone due to their unmistakable aura. It clearly said "I will kill you and walk away without a second thought."

They fit right in.

* * *

They found themselves in a place that catered to werewolves. It was there that they found a familiar face from their childhood. Tawny haired with amber eyes and a worn smile, he sat there drinking a mug of butterbeer.

"Is that...?" started Neko.

The man sniffed, and turned to them in surprise.

"Niko? Harry?"

"Are you Uncle Moony?"

"What are you two doing in a place like this? This is no place for..."

"For innocent children? We lost that privilege years ago. Besides, we were only exploring," snorted Harry.

"Cub?"

"Blame Dumbledore. If he didn't want Harry to grow up a Slytherin, he shouldn't have put him in a home that absolutely hates all things magical," said Neko.

"He what?"

"He put me with my magic hating relatives who treated me worse than some house elves. If Neko hadn't gotten me out, I'd still be there."

Remus lead them out of the alley, and they chatted for a bit. Remus looked furious at the way Harry had lived, and promised to stay in touch. They avoided the bookstore and went to Madam Malkin's for new robes.

After that they left the alley to buy some muggle things that they needed, like clothes.

Harry came out of the room wearing a leather coat with a lion on the back in red and gold. He also wore a leather choker with a bell. He now had black pants, a emerald green sleeveless shirt and a snake belt.

Neko came out in blue and white. His coat was short sleeved with strange circles, and he wore a red collar with a gold bell. He had blue jeans and a black belt.

They bought several clothes and then hit the electronics store. Harry bought a laptop, several music cds, and some anime. Most of it was morbid horror types, like Jigoku Shoujo. Neko bought Black Butler, which cracked him up, D N Angel, and Naruto.

Next stop, the bookstore!

They walked out with full bags. Most of it was manga. Naruto, Bleach, Count Cain, D N Angel, Silver Diamond, and Kurohime to name a few. They returned to their rooms happy.

Since Harry had a feeling that he wouldn't make the train, he asked the barkeep about the other methods of travel that wizards use. Which is how he learned about the Knight's Bus.

* * *

As he suspected, they missed the train entirely.

Walking outside, Harry and Neko went to an abandoned alleyway, and held out his wand.

BANG!

A violent purple bus arrived. The conductor greeted them, then asked for the destination.

"How close to Hogwarts can you get? We couldn't make the train on time," said Neko.

"We can drop you off at Hogsmeade, which is just outside. Why couldn't you make it?"

"For some reason the way in was blocked. It was impossible for us to make it through without attracting attention."

"Well it's three sickles for both of ya. Four if you want something to drink."

They paid six sickles, and tried to hold onto their lunch.

* * *

Snape wasn't happy. He was owled by Draco that neither Neko or Harry made the train on time. When he heard a familiar bang, he went to Hogsmeade to see who came. To his relief, both missing boys were there.

"Care to explain yourselves?"

"Someone blocked the pillar. I asked Tom if there was any other way to make it here on time and he suggested the Bus...which I will never take again unless there is no other choice..." said Harry, queasy.

"Normally I would assign detention, but I think you learned your lesson riding that bus," Snape actually chuckled.

They carried their things to the dorm, and crashed for an hour. After that they headed to the library and started catching up on things they had forgotten. Then they explored the castle and found as many passages as they could before nightfall.

They avoided the teachers, as they didn't want them to know that they had missed the train. Snape found them an hour before the feast, and told them quietly, "The potion is almost finished. Come to my office after the feast and you can take it."

They had already given him the first half of the essay for the potion. It listed the ingredients, how to chop them correctly, how much and when to add them...and the consequences of what would happen when done wrong. They even added a third parchment of other potions that could be made with certain combinations of the ingredients.

Snape had given them fifty points for the extra work.

* * *

"Where the bloody hell were you?" asked Draco.

"We couldn't get through the illusion. Something blocked it, so we had to take the Knight Bus...word of warning, never ride that thing with a full stomach," said Neko, reaching for the milk.

(Neko had asked the twins to lead him to the kitchens, and he made his preferred drink known. He tried pumpkin juice and didn't like it at all. He didn't mind tea or coffee in the morning, but he'd rather drink milk instead.)

"So is the rumor that you two went down Knockturn Alley alone true?" asked Blaise.

"Who the hell told you that? No one even followed us!" said Harry, miffed.

Draco stared at them.

"You two...went into an alley known to sell Dark Arts, and you came out alive?"

"It helps that we gave off a vibe they recognized," said Neko.

"What vibe was that?" snorted Nott.

Neko leveled a glare at him.

"The 'leave us the hell alone or you will die a slow and most likely painful death' vibe."

"Like a mud-blood would be able to scare the people who work on that street," sneered Flint. (Has hated Neko since he became the most popular boy on the team.)

"What's a mud-blood?"

"It's a derogatory term for muggleborn students. Means dirty blood."

"Oh...then you have your terms wrong," said Neko, smirking.

"Oh yeah... I forgot you had the inheritance test done at the bank."

"Who's your family then? Are you a half-blood?" said Blaise.

"Turns out I'm a pure-blood on both sides."

"_WHAT?"_

All conversation in the Slytherin table halted. Now they were interested.

"Yeah, turns out my Mum was a pure-blood from the colonies. And my Dad was a pure-blood from England."

"Names please," Draco said.

"Sirius and Rena Anne Ipswich."

Jaws dropped. Every pure-blood knew of the Ipswich. It was thought that the line had ended when the last known heir died in childbirth, along with the babe.

"You're related to the most powerful coven of witches from America and you didn't know?" Draco's mouth dropped.

"I didn't even know there _was_ magic until I got the letter, remember?"

"So that makes you..."

"A true Slytherin and free from any comments on muggleborn students."

"So Potter is a half blood and..." started Crabbe.

"Actually, he's a pure-blood too. We wanted to see if that stupid horse-faced twit was his only family. Turns out Evans was his mother's adoptive name. Her real name was Lily Cahor."

"Of the Cahor Coven?"

"His grandmother on his mother's side was a squib. His grandfather was a Deveraux who rebelled against the blood feud."

"No bloody way. The two most unlikely Slytherin students are related to three of the most powerful covens in America?" Draco was shocked.

"We're planning on visiting the colonies for the summer. Maybe Christmas if it's approved."

The Slytherin table was stunned. The two most powerful second year students...and their parents were on the Light side. The Dark Lord was doomed.

* * *

"So what side are you on then?" asked Draco when they got to the room.

"Our own. Dumbledore has given us no reason to join his faction, and the Dark Lord is a spoiled brat who uses the 'Crucio' curse when he doesn't get his way. So you could say we're neutral."

"Dear lord...if you two were to gather forces, you'd be unstoppable."

"_If_ we wanted to rule the magical world."

Soon they fell asleep, unaware of the serpent that was awaking to the call of it's false master.

* * *

Their first class and already they knew the man was useless. Having them capture Cornish Pixies that he let loose like an idiot, Harry and Neko instead shot open the window with their wands and let them escape.

Draco was still laughing at the sight of Neko giving the man a black eye. (Which in the Slytherin's eyes, he completely deserved.)

Neko and Harry quickly learned how to transform into their animal forms. (Turns out that they both had at least two each.)

Neko practiced his hell-cat form, which always came out in a blaze. Harry tried out his new phoenix form which had two modes. Ice-fire and lightning. Which meant he either came out in a crackle of electricity or a wreath of blue-white flames. They were showy and inconspicuous as hell and they loved it. Neko's other form was strangely enough, a three headed hound. Harry could turn into a stag or a lion depending on his mood.

(And to Neko's amusement, every time he called Harry Kitten as a joke, Harry turned into a lion cub with a pop. Neither boy could figure out why either...but it was funny as hell to their dorm mates.)

* * *

It was during their training that Harry found something that caught his interest. It was close to Halloween when Harry was flying when he saw an odd formation of rock. It almost looked like a large snake's head.

He landed with a flash of fire, and walked up to it. When he touched the top of the formation, he jumped back. Did the rock actually blink at him?

Harry stepped back, and watched in shock as the rocks shifted to reveal a massive serpent's head.

'Harry! Where are you? There's an earthquake!'

'Up here on the cliff!'

'Stay there! I'll come to you!'

A blaze of flame ran up to Harry and shifted to his friend Neko.

"I wonder why there was an earthquake? According to the geological survey there isn't any faults around here..."

"I think it's because I woke him up..."

"Him?"

"This snake here..."

Neko finally looked at the snake...who seemed highly amused.

Hiss...

Neko and Harry looked at it in shock. Was that snake _laughing_? Hiss...

Yup, it was laughing at them.

"_**Excuse me, but who are you?"**_

The serpent looked at Harry in surprise.

"_**You speak our tongue? What is you name child?"**_

"_**Harry Potter, and this is..."**_

"_**Neko Black at your service."**_

"_**Two speakers! Now this is a rarity! I am the world serpent, Jormunder, son of Loki."**_

"_**Loki? As in the Norse god of Mischief? He's my favorite out of that whole pantheon!"**_ said Neko excitedly.

Jormund seemed amused, and asked them about where they were from. When they mentioned the school a few miles away, they told him all they knew about Hogwarts.

He seemed particularly interested in the houses and the point system. By the time they returned to the castle, it was close to three in the morning. They promised to return by the weekend.

* * *

They were so exhausted the next morning that they were glad that their first lesson of the day was history of magic. And after that was DADA, which a few Slytherin students now regarded as another sleep period.

(They were Blaise, Neko, Draco and Harry. Since Neko was teaching them and three Gryffindor students named Neville, Gred and Forge how to fight using their fists instead, they skipped half the time.)

Neville seemed to be a quick learner when it came to martial arts. Fred and George may have goofed off a lot, but when they were paired with Harry or Neko they took it seriously...wouldn't be good for the upperclassmen to be beaten by second years!

Neko did a series of flips to avoid a kick from Harry. Soon it was an all out fist fight. Surprisingly Draco seemed to enjoy the fights. Soon the boys were at least physically fit, though they were usually exhausted after the lesson.

Jormund seemed to like watching Neko and Harry have a no-holds-barred fight around him. Thanks to the dangerous terrain, they learned to keep their surroundings in their second sight. More than a few times they had to climb back up after flipping one too many times. They enjoyed talking to the serpent, and he enjoyed the company.

They even found abilities that they didn't know they had while fighting. Like Harry's strange Blackfire that he could wield with his fists. Or Neko's strange ability to affect everything just with his will. Every time he did, his eyes went completely black. So he used it sparingly, to avoid suspicion.

* * *

When the cat was attacked a month before Halloween, both boys were with Lockhart after the man _finally_ noticed that they were sleeping in class. They got out so late that they missed dinner.

Furious, they rounded on the man and told him bluntly that four hours of answering fan mail is not a detention. They pulled their wands out and rounded on him, angry. They were starving after missing lunch, with no prospect of dinner to the man's idiocy.

As they were making their way to the kitchens, they found the hall flooded. That's when the heard the voice. It was an unmistakable type, and they knew it was a snake. Following it, they found Mrs. Norris. Suddenly they heard the hall door open, and ran into the bathroom.

That's how they found out about Moaning Mrytle.

Dumbledore had them dragged out in front of the other students, and everyone normally would have assumed that they were the culprits. But...the entire school knew that Neko loved all the cats, and would never allow something to happen to any of them, even Mrs. Norris. His face clearly showed he was as devastated as Mr. Filch for the state of the feline.

As Dumbledore tried to question them, Neko said point blank, "We weren't at dinner because that idiot Lockhart kept us in detention for four hours answering his stupid fanmail!"

Snape glared at the man, as he knew full well the boys were helping him with certain potions and missed lunch.

He gave the blow hard a look and said "Since when is answering fan mail an acceptable detention?"

Snape heard the boy's stomachs rumble loudly. He told them to raid the kitchens before returning to their dorms.

* * *

"Hey Neko...I've been thinking."

"What about?"

"You know how in Greek mythology there are three brothers that rule the Earth? I mean, you have Hades, I have Zeus...but we're missing Poseidon."

Neko thought about this for a moment.

"Like there's the three numbers that go by Cerberus?"

"Exactly! We need someone to join our team to be like the three brothers!"

Neko thought of this...

"An interesting concept, little brother. And as you point out, there are always three brothers. But who could we train to be the third? None of these wizards even come close to our skill."

"We'll think of something before the year ends. If not, well...desperate times..."

"You don't seriously mean...Not him!"

"Let's hope our guns namesakes take pity on us and send another to join..." shuddered Harry.

* * *

Three more attacks, and Harry overheard Hermione and Ron talking about a potion in Myrtle's bathroom.

_Why are they brewing a restricted potion? I better warn Snape about this in case they screw it up._

"They're _what?"_

"I overheard them making a restricted potion called the polyjuice. I thought you should know in case they aren't successful and mess it up."

"So that explains who stole from my stores. Let's see what happens. If they enter the Slytherin dorms, capture them and wait a while for the potion to wear off before getting me. If they mess up, at least then I will know what potion they used."

* * *

As it turned out, Hermione did brew a passable potion. She and Ron infiltrated the dorm...and were held at gunpoint by Neko. Harry went and retrieved Snape, who brought them to McGonagall promptly. Both Gryffindor students ended up in detention with Filch for two months, and a hundred point deduction.

Not to mention the loss of Hermione's goody-two-shoes reputation. Now she was considered a rebel...and officially hated Neko.

Ever since the cat-like Slytherin became Harry's best friend, her plans of becoming the first muggleborn minister of Magic had gone down the drain! It wouldn't have been so bad if he were a muggleborn like her, as everyone thought he originally was, but when he found out that he was in fact a pure-blood, and from powerful families at that, it became insufferable!

It didn't even register to her that Neko Black had yet to join in the usual Slytherin pastimes of mocking those with muggles in their ancestry. In fact he had been trying to stop such things from happening, even going out of his way to tell the others to knock it off.

Neko was the oddest Pure-blood in the school. She also wanted to know how he got a gun past the wards. And that look in his eye...she had to know more.

* * *

"ACHOO!"

"Damn, that's the third time this week. I keep telling you to mix orange juice with your breakfast but you never listen!" scolded Harry.

"It's not a cold you baka. I keep having this weird feeling that someone is stalking me! And if someone is stalking, then it's not a great leap to talking behind my back."

"Stalking...? Oh hell no, you don't think it's him do you?" said Harry, worried.

"It's not Creed. His brand of stalking is more subtle. Whoever it is must be an amateur. They aren't hiding their presence at all."

As they were discussing this, a first year Ravenclaw passed them.

"There are bookworms following you, you know," she said conversationally.

"Bookworms? You don't suppose...?" started Harry.

"Why would a bookworm follow me?"

"Maybe because you pulled that practice gun on her? She was pretty damn freaked out when you did that."

"Yeah, but it wasn't loaded! Why would she still be worried about that?"

"Obviously no one told her that the wards on this bloody school only keep dangerous _magical_ artifacts out. There's no ward against muggle weaponry."

"And I doubt they'd advertise that in one of her precious books either. We only found that out by asking Snape."

"So what's on the training agenda for the weekend? More jujitsu?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of blades."

"Not poisoned, I hope? Even if the ones in that one shop looked very nice."

"The wards would alert the old goat that you've got them. And I really don't want to explain why we were down that particular alley given the reaction the others had to us going there alone."

"True. Race you to the opening!"

* * *

A strange thing happened when Neko and Harry discovered the Chamber of Secrets. They found a large basilisk who's eyes didn't work on them at all. It also called Neko 'master' every time it spoke. Which lead to him researching Salazar Slytherin's entire family tree...

"Holy crap!"

"What now?"

"One of my squib ancestors was a descendant of Slytherin! The same one that married into the Ipswich clan!"

"Which would make you the true heir of Slytherin. Do they have the others?"

"Yeah, and get this. According to this family tree, Neville is Hufflepuff's heir."

"Explains why he's so great at Herbology and not potions."

Soon they made friends with the Basilisk, whose name turned out to be Sally. When they told her about the World Serpent in the cliffs, she vanished into the lake to investigate.

When she came back, she mentioned off hand about a girl with a dairy coming down and ordering her to attack certain students. She caught their attention, so they asked more about her.

Now they knew who to look for.

"Myrtle's flooded the bathroom again. Wonder who made her cry this time?"

"Let's find out."

Someone had thrown a book at her while she was in the toilet.

"Well that's just plain rude. There's no call for throwing books at people, even ghosts for no reason. Except Peeves, but only because he's usually done something to warrant it," said Neko.

"Are you okay Myrtle?" asked Harry.

Myrtle liked the Slytherin boys because they were polite to her and asked her about her day.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle? Who's that?"

"I don't know or care. This may be that dairy that Sally mentioned."

* * *

Harry wrote in it that night and confirmed their suspicions.

"Where are you two going?" asked Blaise.

"We found a dairy that can think for itself. We're taking it to Professor Snape to have him look at it."

"Have fun," said Draco off-handily.

Snape took on look at the book and swore...violently. He gave the boys some new words to say the next time things went horribly wrong.

"What is it sir?"

"Where did you find this?"

"Someone threw it at Moaning Myrtle when she was in the U-bend. So she flooded the toilet and we went to cheer her up," said Harry.

"This dairy is a soul fragment. A very Dark Artifact. Whoever made this should be reported to the Ministry promptly."

"Soul fragment? Didn't you find one of those in your vaults, Neko?"

"Yeah, and I told the goblins to remove it."

"I'm reporting this book to the headmaster. You two stay here while I alert him."

"Yes sir."

"If you two get bored, you may read my copy of Most Potente Potions. If you find one you wish to try, let me know."

(Snape had taken a liking to the two boys, many because they showed real enthusiasm for his class. They were always coming to him first for help in making potions, particularly those used in the hospital wing.)

* * *

Dumbledore came back with Snape, to question the boys further.

"For the love of... Look, if you don't believe us you can use veritaserum! We had nothing to do with bringing that bloody book into the school! If anything your precious wards should have told you who brought it in!" snapped Harry.

"Why don't you ask Myrtle? She's more observant that you think."

Which lead to the discovery of Ginny Weasly's possession by a Dark Artifact. Once they left the bathroom, Harry snuck back later that night and went into the chamber alone.

"_**Sally, you awake?"**_

"_**Yes, little Harry."**_

"_**Sally, you have to escape into the forest. Dumbledore will no doubt have us come into the Chamber to kill you later if you don't."**_

"_**If he knows where the Chamber is, then it is possible. Very well, I shall see you and your delightful brother later. Take care, little hatchling."**_

"_**Good luck, Sally, Queen of the Snakes."**_

Harry's fears were well founded, as Dumbledore had them open the Chamber to kill the monster a week later. He was furious to discover that the monster had escaped. Harry neglected to tell him that the snake was still on the grounds. So the school year ended with Slytherin winning the cup again, Hufflepuff won the Quidditch Cup, and the monster of Slytherin was finally free to roam, provided she left the students alive.

* * *

But the most interesting thing to happen came a week before they were due to return home.

They were visiting Jormund when a strange man approached. His eyes were black as night, and he wore an interesting outfit. Both boys drew their guns and had them trained on the man on instinct.

"_**Relax, hatchlings. This is Loki, my father. I mentioned two hatchlings who came to visit me and he became interested."**_

Harry put his gun back into the holster. He gave the man a formal bow and said "Pleasure to meet you sir."

Neko quickly followed suit, with a mischievous look in his eyes.

"So you are the boys who talk to my second son. I am the god Loki."

"Harry Potter."

"Neko Black. I can't believe I get to meet my favorite Norse god!" he said happily.

Loki's eyes glinted. They talked a while, and Harry mentioned the idea he had about a trio of gun wielders. And their problem finding a third shooter. Loki laughed.

"Why not have Jormund join you then?"

"How?"

"I can easily give him a human body to walk around in for a few centuries, and I'm sure he would enjoy getting a chance to get out and about! But I would need you two to do me a favor in return."

"What sort of favor, Lord Loki?" asked Harry cautiously.

"If you wouldn't mind, take Fenrir with you when you travel. He's been chained up for so long, I am quite sure he's as lonely as Jormund was."

"Is that all? I wouldn't mind meeting Fenrir and bringing him with us, if he's willing. But I have something to ask of you as well, Loki."

"Oh? Ask away."

"I remember the tale of how Thor had to pretend he was Freya, and dress in a wedding gown..."

"Yes...? And?"

"Do you have pictures?"

Loki looked at Neko for a few moments, before he started howling with laughter. A boy after his own heart! He gave Neko copies of those photos, which had both boys laughing. They boarded the train and were greeted by a strange boy wearing what Draco said was the Durmstrang uniform.

* * *

He wore green glasses, his hair was pitch black, and his eyes were a evergreen color. He wore his hair in a short ponytail, and he had a mild set of fangs. On his cloak was a serpent pin that covered the world.

"Greetings. I am Mizuki. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Jormund walked the earth as a human.


	3. Chapter 3

Their first stop during their summer vacation was Gringotts. Neko and Harry claimed their family rings, and found out that Mizuki had his own vault set up by Loki in advance. They asked for an international set of port-keys, to be activated with the keywords they set up. One would take them close to Durmstrang where Fenrir was chained up, apparently. Another would take them to Salem Institute in America, so they could find the covens.

The final port-key would activate and send them back to the Leaky Cauldron when they were ready to come home. At least, until Grimmauld place was ready for habitation. Neko and Harry had gone into the house and were horrified. After they met Kreacher, they made a deal he couldn't refuse.

In exchange for cleaning out the undesirable elements that plagued the house, they would keep a good amount of the Dark Artifacts and most of the Black family heirlooms. Neko specifically cleaned out a large closet for Kreacher to place the items in. He even convinced the painting of his formidable grandmother to stop yelling about traitors.

(She only shut up because he informed her about his mother's heritage and the fact that his father had brought the blood of Salazar Slytherin into the Black family, raising it's status. Because Sirius had married one of the most powerful covens of pure-bloods in the colonies, Walpurga Black declared him a true Black and they gave him back his status as Lord Black, to be given when he leaves Azkaban.)

In return for allowing him to leave the country and go abroad, Chronos had the three kill the targets in whatever country they were visiting. So it was business as usual. They even changed the call sign for Harry and Train to Olympus since Mizuki passed the test and now wielded the sword Poseidon. It was an old viking longsword with a snake wrapped around a trident engraved. His official number was XV.

The elders knew that if one of the three decided to leave, particularly Train, the others would defect as well. The three were inseparable.

* * *

It seemed that Loki had already visited the school, as the headmaster greeted them cautiously. The man was a former Death Eater, and he could easily sense the danger the three posed.

All Train had to do to convince him to fake the documents labeling Mizuki a student of the school was mention that they were taking the large hound that plagued them. Karkaroff was more than happy to get rid of it, as it tended to howl at the moon a lot.

Harry and Train went to Fenrir, and let him get used to their scent first before approaching.

Fenrir took one whiff and recognized his father's scent and barked happily. So these were the boys who would free and travel with him?

"Easy boy. You're not so fierce now are you?" said Harry, giving the hound a good scratch on his ear. Fenrir's tail thumped...shaking loose a few avalanches. Neko grinned.

Loki appeared after they freed him, and gave them a collar and leash. He then put the collar on Fenrir for them, who shrank to the size of a Saint Bernard. His fur was a velvety black, and his eyes were an onyx color. The collar itself was an ice-blue and had his name stitched on it in red. Fenrir barked and jumped onto Harry, licking him thoroughly. Harry laughed as he petted the hound.

"This is the fearsome Fenrir? He's just a big puppy!" grinned Neko.

"The only reason Odin locked him up was because Fenrir tends to use his house as a fire hydrant. In fact, the only reason Tyr lost his hand was because the collar Odin put onto Fenrir was too tight and it hurt him."

* * *

They left with Fenrir, and were deposited roughly onto the international platform in America. They registered their wands willingly, and had Fenrir classed as human to avoid trouble. Fenrir barked, and tried to sniff everything. Mizuki was given dog-watching duty, as his older brother listened to him more than he did the boys.

Soon they were on the road, traveling by a motorcycle that Train had to have when he saw it. Since he was too young to drive, he took a mild aging potion to avoid suspicion. Their first stop in America was Salem Massachusetts.

It didn't take long to find the coven, as they tended to stand out without trying. The were called the Sons of Ipswich, and people showed them respect. Train walked up to one and said hello.

People everywhere gaped at him, then muttered "Tourist."

Train suspected that his greeting wouldn't go over well, so he prepared to use his power. Sure enough, the teen eyes turned black, and Train followed suit. The force between them was palpable, and the other boy gasped.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Niko Black, and my mother was Rena Ipswich."

"Micheal."

Micheal called the others and took Harry, Mizuki and Niko to an underground chamber.

"Who's the kid?"

"Which one?"

"Green eyes, and a weird scar."

"That's Harry. His mother was Lily Cahor. The other boy is Mizuki, who is the human form of Jormunder the world serpent from Norse mythology. The fierce hound is his brother Fenrir."

"Cool. So how old are you and what school?"

"I'm almost 13, and I go to Hogwarts. Me and Harry are in the Slytherin house."

"Good. The last thing we need is some wimpy Hufflepuff or idiotic Gryffindor."

"I'm the heir of Gryffindor, but I happen to agree with you. They do tend to jump in first."

As soon as the introductions were out of the way, Niko was officially added into the coven. As was Harry when he demonstrated the Blackfire technique he had discovered.

* * *

Micheal gave them a tip as to where they could locate the Deveraux and Cahor coven.

"They stick to Seattle. Just watch out for the Deveraux, they're ruthless. The Cahor are alright, but they've mostly forgotten their heritage of late. If the Deveraux find out that you can create the Blackfire, which they've lost, you might have some difficulty escaping them."

"Any other things we should be warned about?"

"There's an old rumor that the Deveraux cursed the Cahors with a watery death spell, but it hasn't been confirmed. Which means you should probably avoid any body of water that you can drown in."

Mike came up and gave them another piece of news that had just reached them.

"Watch out in Seattle. I overheard representatives of the Mother Goddess were heading that way. Seems someone from the Cahor side killed a familiar and they weren't happy about it."

"Thanks for the heads up. I wouldn't want Padfoot or Hedwig to die because someone was over-enthusiastic."

* * *

In the end, they had to run as the Deveraux started attacking the Cahor coven. Even though Harry was the descendant of both, the Deveraux still held a grudge against the other coven. Holly, the leader of the Cahors, was polite and held no interest in Harry's Blackfire. The Deveraux never even bothered to meet him.

Since he liked Holly and her cousins, he cast a Wicca good luck spell on all their travels. It practically guaranteed they would survive until they reached their destination for the next five years. Seems the Mother Goddess liked Harry enough to allow him to cast a spell like that.

They wandered around, eventually ending up in Egypt, to Jormund's delight. Harry and Niko ran into the twins, and met the other Weasly family. Ginny was blushing due to the fact that Harry was there, to Niko's amusement.

(Hence why he was teased endlessly until Harry hexed his milk to turn into pumpkin juice for a week.)

They loved Bill, who was working at Gringotts. Bill got along with Niko and Harry pretty well, and even helped plan Harry's birthday party with the twins.

(He bought Harry a foe-glass, since Harry stopped Bill from walking into a pit of asps.)

They left Egypt and went to Niko's family home, to recover. It was almost impossible to recognize the place, as Dobby and Kreacher had outdone themselves.

(Niko had convinced Lucius to sell Dobby to him, after he met the elf. Lucius was more than happy to do so, as Dobby had been getting on his nerves that day.)

Kreacher was happy to serve Niko and Harry, who relaxed for a bit in the kitchens. The doxies in the curtains were gone, the cursed clothing in the second smallest bedroom were destroyed, and the boggart was vacated. Niko had seen how Kreacher reacted to the house elf heads, and had them removed. The troll's leg was falling to pieces, and was tossed out.

Niko's first order of business the next day was to look over the Dark items Kreacher had put aside.

* * *

The first thing that caught his eye was a necklace with the Slytherin symbol on it. It held the same vibes as Helga Hufflepuff's cup.

"Kreacher, what can you tell me about this necklace?" he asked cautiously.

"Master Regulus told Kreacher to come with him, and he did. Kreacher watched as master drank from a bowl, until the locket was exposed. He ordered Kreacher to return to the house with the locket before the Inferi killed the master."

"Uncle Regulus was killed by Inferi? I thought Grandmother said he was killed by the Dark Lord himself?"

"No, young master. Master Regulus was killed by creatures most foul in order to retrieve that locket."

"So Uncle Regulus was killed trying to help the Light Side. That's good to know. Kreacher, we're going to ask the goblins to help us remove the soul fragment inside the locket. Is that okay with you?"

Kreacher seemed thrilled, as he informed Niko about Regulus' last order to destroy the locket.

A week later Sirius Black escaped. And Harry brought another dog into the house. One who seemed reluctant to enter the house. So Harry got to eye level with it and told it point blank, "Either you come inside and get a bath or I'll enlist the aid of Mizuki and Neko to drag your furry arse inside."

The dog whimpered and had it's tail between its legs as it went in.

"Harry, you know that's not a real dog, right?" said Neko when he saw it.

"Yeah, but you know I'm a sucker for animals."

"Yeah, yeah. So where is the hound now?"

"Mizuki offered to wash both the hound and Fenrir. We get the honors of buying the food...again."

When Fenrir and the hound came down, they weren't surprised to find it turn into a man.

"So who are you and how the hell did you get past the wards around this place?" he asked finally.

"I'm Harry Potter, a.k.a. Kitten to this idiot."

"Neko Black, also called Black Cat. Mizuki is the one who gave your animagi form a flea bath."

"Is Neko your real name or one you chose yourself?"

"Technically it's Niko Orion Black, but I like Neko better."

"Let me guess. You're the one who escaped and has everyone running around like headless chickens, Sirius Black."

The man grinned and gave a bark of laughter.

"The one and only!"

"So I take it that makes you..."

"Your dad? Apparently...but why are you even here? What happened to that couple I left you with?"

"Dead. Some guy came in and killed them with a gun one night, then trained me to use one."

"And he taught me. It's thanks to him that I'm not with those psychopaths the Dursleys."

So they all went into the kitchen and discussed their lives for a bit. After learning about Pettigrew, Sirius was relieved to find his son agreeing with him about what he did. Though he was a bit shocked to find out that Niko wouldn't have given the man a chance to cast before killing him.

"So what now?"

"I recommend talking to your mother. Then we'll see about getting you a proper trial and clearing your name."

"Unlikely. Dumbledore would never allow it, and Fudge would likely have me Kissed before I even got a word out."

"Let us handle that. We should request the use of a room in Gringotts, to keep it fair. They seem to like us a lot."

"How the hell did you manage that?"

"Dumbledork stole over two million galleons from my vault, so I told them to reclaim the lost funds with interest going to the goblin clans."

"I found a horcrux in Bellatrix Lestrange's vault, and had it destroyed."

Sirius gaped at them.

"And did you know that since you married Rena Ipswich, you added the blood of Slytherin to the Black family?" said Niko, grinning.

"Rena was a Slytherin?"

"Apparently a squib from that family married into the Ipswich one, and mom was a descendant. Harry's related to Ravenclaw in the same way."

* * *

Soon they were planning Sirius' trial. Niko and Harry went to the Ministry and asked to meet with Madam Bones. After that, they had to divert Fudge and Dumbledore notice of the trial since they would undoubtedly try to interfere.

Sirius port-keyed into the room, and waited. He stayed between four Aurors, one of which was his cousin Tonks. He signed an agreement for veritaserum and a penseive memory.

Niko walked in wearing his usual outfit for assassinations. Harry came in with his most impressive muggle attire, a leather jacket and sleeveless black shirt. His jeans were neat and came with a silver snake belt. He wore uncomfortable shoes that shined.

Madam Bones entered, as well as three other Wizangamot members. As they started the trial, Dumbledore stormed in.

"Why was I not alerted to this?"

"Because you were too close to the defendant, and your opinion would have been biased. That is also the reason why were are conducting this in Gringotts and not the Ministry," said Madam Bones calmly.

Dumbledore spotted the boys.

"Why are you two here?"

"We represent the Black and Potter families, naturally. I am here to represent my parents," Harry said, giving the man a cold look.

"As the current head of the Black family, it is my duty to oversee the trial of the man who is currently still apart of it."

"I object to this!"

"You were not invited, therefore you are not allowed _to_ object. You may stay, but that is all."

Tonks administered three drops of veritaserum.

"State your name."

"Sirius Orion Black."

"Did you betray the Potters and kill Peter Pettigrew?"

"No."

"What about the thirteen muggles?"

"No."

"What happened on the night in question?"

"I flew to James' house because I was worried. We had switched the Secret Keeper to Peter, on the grounds that he was the least likely to be the one in charge of their safety. I went to check on him that night and he was gone. I was halfway to Godric's Hollow when the wards fell.

By the time I got there, James and Lily were dead and Hagrid had Harry. I wanted to take my godson, but Hagrid was under orders from Dumbledore. I knew it would be impossible for him to give me Harry, as he would follow any order from Dumbledore to the letter.

I went to confront Peter, and he yelled something about how I betrayed James. He turned into a rat after cutting off his finger on his right hand."

"Why did you confront Peter and not go with Hagrid to meet Dumbledore?" asked Harry.

"I was furious about his betrayal and didn't think things through."

Madam Bones brought out Sirius' wand, and read off the last spells cast. When she was done, she said, "All in favor of innocence?"

Everyone's hands raised except Dumbledore.

"Any opposed?"

None raised.

"I overturn the conviction of Sirius Orion Black. He is to be compensated for false imprisonment and cleared of all charges."

* * *

Sirius walked out of Gringotts a freed man. He was grinning like a loon when they ran into the Weasly family at the bookstore.

Their reactions had all three laughing their heads off.

* * *

"Sirius Black!" exclaimed Arthur, standing between him and his family.

"Harry, Neko, come over here!" said Molly Weasly, freaking out.

Which is why they were shocked when Niko, Sirius and Harry started laughing.

"Sirius has just be declared a free man, Mr. Weasly. Madam Bones overturned the charges and he's being compensated for false imprisonment."

"I haven't been informed of that," said Arthur.

"Naturally. We just got back from the closed trial in Gringotts."

"Hey Sirius, you mind helping get the groceries? We're going to need a massive party to celebrate!"

"Sure thing pup!"

Niko arrived an hour later bearing fire-whiskey and butterbeer. Since Sirius was freed, he became Harry's legal guardian. Niko also called Remus, who was given a cell phone last Christmas, and he flooed in.

Sirius and Remus woke up the next morning with monstrous hangovers, to the boy's amusement.

Sirius was interested in the fact that he didn't have to trick his son into drinking milk. After Niko handed the two hangover cures, they awaited Dobby's arrival with the Daily Prophet and Quibbler.

* * *

"_**SIRIUS BLACK INNOCENT! THE SEARCH BEGINS FOR PETER PETTIGREW!**_

_**In a surprise move yesterday, a closed hearing for escaped convict Sirius Black was held in a private Gringotts room. Sirius Black walked out of the room a freed man, after submitting to questioning under veritaserum, the truth potion.**_

_**Black revealed that the Secret Keeper for the Potters was changed at the last minute to another of the Potter's friends, a Peter Pettigrew. Black then revealed that the man in question is an illegal animagus.**_

_**According to Black's pensieve memories, Pettigrew is able to turn into a rather fat gray rat who is missing a toe on his right paw. The one responsible for the deaths of thirteen muggles and the traitor of the Potters is in fact Pettigrew.**_

_**Aurors caution everyone to alert the Ministry immediately if you spot this rat. Do not approach Pettigrew.**_

_**By Mathilde Hopkins, Daily Prophet reporter."**_

"_MINISTRY BUNGLES AGAIN!_

_In a closed hearing inside Gringotts, Sirius Black, the escaped convict was declared innocent of all charges. Black was administered veritaserum upon the start of the trial, and revealed that the true traitor of the Potters was another of their friends, a Peter Pettigrew._

_Pettigrew is an unregistered animagus, a gray rat with a missing toe on his right foot. Aurors caution everyone to report any rats matching this description immediately and not to confront the man._

_For details on Black's trial, turn to page ten._

_For more Ministry bungles, page twelve."_

* * *

Sirius woke up at midnight to whimpering. It wasn't Remus, despite it being a full moon. He went to investigate...and found his godson wincing in his sleep. Trying to wake him up did no good. Harry flinched at the slightest contact.

Niko walked in and curled up against Harry. Harry's trembling started to die down. Sirius turned into his dog form and did the same. It happened again the next night.

This time Harry turned into his cub form, and curled up next to Jormund and Fenrir near the fire. Remus, still a werewolf, curled up next to Harry, followed by Niko and Sirius. Jormund wrapped around all of them, making an interesting nest.

Unknown to them, Dobby took a photo and left the camera in Niko's trunk.

* * *

(NEXT MORNING, DAY BEFORE THE START OF TERM)

As Harry untangled himself from the pile, he got up and grabbed something to eat. He passed the window, and stopped cold. He had a drink in hand, and choked.

Running back into the kitchen, he woke Niko up violently.

"Train, get your ass up and grab the poisoned blades!"

Hearing his old name, Niko woke up quickly. Then he followed Harry into the living room and looked out the window.

"OH _FUCK_ NO! How the hell did he find me?"

"Language pup," yawned Sirius. (Harry had woken him and Remus up by accident.)

"Harry, grab Hades and Zeus while I find those knives!" yelled Niko, running upstairs.

Both skidded back into the room, not stopping. Sirius and Remus looked outside to see what all the fuss was about.

A boy about their age wearing a furred coat with hardly anything covering his chest, and long pants was outside. His hair was silverish, and his eyes held an unholy gleam in them. At his side was a sword...a katana by the looks of it. It had a roman numeral engraved on the hilt.

"Friend of yours?" quipped Sirius. He was really enjoying his son's state of panic, even if he now questioned which way his son's preference went...

"Friend? Are you insane? He's a goddamn stalker! How in the hell did he find this place?" yelled Niko.

"Why are you so surprised?" asked Remus.

"That freak is a muggle. And he's always stalking Niko!" replied Harry, loading Zeus and Hades one handedly.

"What's his name?"

"Creed Diskenth. And don't bother inviting him in, he's likely to kill you if you mention me," said Niko. In one hand was a familiar poisoned blade, the other held Hades.

"That man has a serious problem. His fascination with Niko borders on obsessive. He's tried to kill me five times simply because I was too close to his precious 'Train-kun'!"

"I'm ready," yelled Niko, heading to the door.

* * *

Harry snuck out the back, and got into position on the roof. Sirius watched this all in shock...and some amusement.

"My dear Train-kun. So good to see you!" said Creed.

Niko tried to suppress the shiver that went up his back.

"What the hell are you doing here Creed? And how did you find me?"

"Train-kun, don't underestimate my admiration for you."

"I'll ask again, why are you here? And you better answer me, because there is no antidote to the poison on this blade..." growled Niko.

"Why Train-kun, I was sent to inform you that you no longer have to stay in that silly school of yours! We've gained some wizard members that belong to the Ministry!"

"I'm in that school to learn moron. And besides, if I don't show, the old man in charge will come after Harry and control him."

"I couldn't care less about your precious little brother. All I want is you, Train-kun," said Creed.

"Get lost Creed. Unless we have a mission, which I doubt because of the date, you have no business here."

Niko started to walk back inside, and Harry let off a warning shot to Creed. Which got the attention of the neighbors, and called the cops.

Harry went back inside once Creed was long gone. He didn't trust that man at all.

Niko was cursing quite a bit when he came back in. Sirius still wanted to know what the other boy wanted.

"He wanted me to quit school. Seems they finally got someone inside the Ministry."

"It's been what, three years? What the hell took them so long?"

"How much do you want to bet that their new member is a spy for the ministry?"

"I wonder who it is?"

"I'll contact One to ask. If nothing else, I can confirm who to contact when shit hits the fan."

(The contact turned out to be an Dragon Tamer named Charlie Weasly. Immediately they owled him and had their suspicions confirmed. Charlie was a spy for Dumbledore...as well as one of the Terror Twins older brothers.)

* * *

As they rushed onto the train, they waved goodbye to Sirius. Remus got onto the train, and then went to take a nap.

Draco and Blaise showed up, and they discussed their summer. Draco was amused at how they dealt with Dumbledore, and grinned at the thought of Niko actually getting into a magic battle against his own coven.

Soon they were on their way to the school. Harry bought several frogs, and they had fun swapping the cards for a bit.

When the train stopped, Harry knew something was up.

"Uncle Moony get up! Something is happening outside!" said Harry, shaking the poor werewolf up.

"I'm up. Are we there yet?"

"No, it just stopped without warning."

"Something's coming. Harry, get Zeus out and empty the chamber. I get the feeling that regulars won't work."

Harry and Neko emptied their guns, and not a moment too soon.

A rotted, skeletal hand was at the door. It slid open, and the air began to chill. Neko didn't need prompting, as he shot the thing dead on. Harry followed suit, if only to keep from passing out. Something about this creature brought back his nightmares of the Dursley house.

A ragged breath...then nothing. The creature let loose a howl of rage as it vanished in a blast of white light.

Remus, Draco and Blaise stared in shock.

"What the hell was a Dementor doing here?" said Draco finally. (Had long since gotten used to Neko and Harry doing strange things.)

"Originally it was sent to look for Sirius, but with the trial that proved he was innocent, now they're after Peter Pettigrew," said Remus.

"Great...so we have to deal with those things too?" growled Harry.

"On the plus side, at least now we have something to use for target practice," grinned Neko.

"How did you kill it?" asked Remus.

"Surprisingly enough, when our guns are out of bullets, they shoot magic instead. We found that out by accident."

"Which is why Neko and I emptied them."

As Remus handed out chocolate, he went to talk to the driver.

The twins showed up, and asked if they heard a popping noise when the Dementors were on.

"That would be us. Hello target practice."

(Neko and Harry automatically put silencers on their guns when they get on the train. Wouldn't be good if a certain Gryffindor girl found out about Hades and Zeus and told the headmaster.)

"By the way, Charlie says hi," said Harry.

"You've talked to Charlie?"

"Yup."

Harry and Neko petted the skeletal horses that pulled the carriages. Then they joined the terror twins, Lee and Neville.

* * *

"Now before we begin, I have a few announcements to make. First, I would like to welcome the transfer student from Durmstrang, Mizuki Tsukishiro. He will join the Slytherin house. Second, I would like to introduce two new staff additions. Remus Lupin shall fill in the Defense Against the Dark Arts post, and Ms. Sakura Hikari will add a new class to the curriculum, which is optional to add into the schedule above second year."

A scattered applause arouse, as the Gryffindor cheered Lupin, since he was an Alumni, and a few cheers from the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables for the new class.

"Ms. Hikari will be teaching summoning and Magical weaponry, available for anyone over second year. Finally, I regret to inform you that our current Care of Magical Creatures professor has retired. Therefore I want you to congratulate Rubeus Hagrid, who has taken over the position."

A loud cheer from the Gryffindor table, and from Neko and Harry for Hagrid. Draco wasn't too happy about the book Hagrid assigned however...(something about the thing eating his favorite shoes before he could get it to shut.)

"On a final note, the Dementors of Azkaban have been posted by the Ministry in an attempt to apprehend a dangerous criminal. I would advise not getting in the way of them and their prey. They do not discern the difference between the one they are hunting and the someone who was in the wrong place."

"So which classes did you two choose anyway?" asked Blaise.

"CoMC, Ancient Runes, and Healing," said Harry.

"Healing? I didn't see that one on the registry."

"It isn't. I had to ask Snape if there was a class for it, and he told me I'd have to ask Madam Pomphrey to teach me. I think I'll take that new class that Ms. Hikari is teaching as well," said Harry.

"I'm taking Ancient Runes, CoMC, and Advanced Transfiguration with McGonagall. She actually gave me the written portion of the OWL exam early, and according to her I pass with a perfect score!"

"Wait, was that when you said that your final last year was different from mine after we finished?" said Harry.

"Apparently she switched it without telling me."

"Are you going to take that new class too?"

"Why not? I would probably die from boredom in Arithmancy anyway."

"YAY!"

* * *

"I am Professor Hikari. If you survive a month in this class, and stay on my good side I will permit you to call me Sakura-sensei. If you are proficient in summoning or magical weaponry, you may survive. If not, I will throw you out before we get to the good stuff."

"Professor, what exactly is magical weaponry and summoning?" asked Hermione.

"In a nutshell? Summoning is bringing forth non-human reinforcements. Magical weaponry is exactly how it sounds. For example, a gun that can shoot condensed magic without any runes or spells on it is considered a natural magical weapon."

(She looked straight at Harry and Neko when she mentioned the guns.)

"As for summoning..."

She spoke a word, and a pitch black hole appeared. Out of the hole came a demonic dragon that was black as night and had red eyes.

"This is called a Nightmare Red Eyes. It is an intelligent dragon that can occasionally speak when it bothers to."

The dragon looked at them and said, "Since when do you teach hatchlings, Master?"

"Since I got bored, you great dolt. Go eat some Dementors."

The gleam in it's eyes made Neko and Harry grin. Soon howls of rage and fury could be heard across the grounds...and Hagrid's delighted shout. (Dumbledore could be heard cursing loudly at the dragon before trying to get rid of it.)

"I dare say several firsties just learned a new vocabulary," Hikari said dryly.

Neko, Harry and Draco were howling with laughter.


	4. Chapter 4

When the class ended, she held Neko and Harry back.

"I suppose you two don't really need any real lessons in magical weaponry, seeing as how you made your guns shoot condensed magic without any help."

"No ma'am."

"Don't call me ma'am. I'm only twenty three."

"So what are you going to teach us then?"

"How to summon your personal familiars, if you're interested."

Neko and Harry looked at each other, then grinned.

"Alright, first things first, bring out Hades and Zeus."

They obediently brought out the guns.

"Next, I want you to visualize your favorite animal. And this is important. You should will that animal to you."

Neko went first. Slowly, a small black hole appeared. Out of it came a rather interesting two-tailed cat, with blue eyes and obsidian black fur. It had a star on it's forehead.

"What is your familiar's name?"

"Hoshi."

"Open your eyes then, Neko."

Neko looked and saw the cat. Hoshi mewed, and he promptly picked it up.

"You next."

Harry visualized a bird. It was a merlin with green eyes, and vibrant red feathers. It flew through the window and landed on the desk.

"Name?"

"Emrys."

"Look around."

"Cool!"

Emrys flew to Harry's shoulder.

"Hmm...you two have a natural talent for both arts. If you two help me with a prank, I'll teach you both reverse-summoning by Christmas."

"What kind of prank?"

"One that will leave ol' Dumbledork running from a certain nightmare out of muggle children shows."

The demonic grins on both their faces was all she needed.

* * *

"AHHH!"

This scream was heard all through the school, as a large purple, and _singing_ dinosaur waltzed the halls. Teacher after teacher attempted to get rid of it, the seventh and sixth years did their hardest to kill it, and the ones responsible were laughing their asses off watching the whole thing.

The worst part of the joke was that the song the dinosaur was singing was clearly on a repeating loop. So it just started over and over again.

"_I love you, you love me, we're a happy family..."  
_

"It's times like this that I'm glad the silencing charm was invented," cackled Ms. Hikari.

Neko, Harry, Draco and the twins were cackling with her. No doubt the muggleborn and half-blood students would have nightmares for months.

"Should we rescue them?" asked Harry finally.

"Wait until Dumbles tries to kill it, then I'll rescue them. Too bad they don't know it disappears when you say the foulest muggle swear word that you know."

That had the boys howling again.

Dumbledore came out into the Great Hall, and tried to use the Elder wand to destroy the disturbing dinosaur. It bounced back, and five minutes later, Professor Hikari appeared, annoyed.

"I'm trying to read! Shut the _**FUCK**_ up!"

The singing abruptly stopped, and the dinosaur imploded in on itself. A sigh of relief was heard. Professor Hikari gave the other teachers a look of annoyance.

"Honestly, it's like you lot have never had one of those set on you before."

"What sort of curse is it?"

"It's a spell. I barely know how to cast one myself, but if I ever find the one who created it, the Dark Lord will be the _least_ of their problems."

* * *

When the class walked into the new room, they were mildly surprised to see a large black panther sleeping on the teacher's desk. Assuming it was another one of her summons, they sat down, with the exception of Neko and Harry who gave it a good ear scratch.

So imagine their shock when after the large cat woke up and roared, it transformed into Professor Hikari!

"Twenty points to Slytherin for showing actual backbone. Now for today's lesson, I will be testing your natural ability for this subject. Don't be offended it you are unable to take this class, some people aren't suited for it at all."

Hermione was the first to be tested. She couldn't take the magical weaponry as her temperament wasn't suited for it. Draco was one of the few selected to take both sides of the class.

Draco, Neko, Neville, Harry, Luna, Lee, Gred and Forge- Summoning and Weaponry

Hermione, Padma, Blaise, Seamus, Dean, Percy- Summoning

Ron, Cedric, Cho, Colin, Angelina and Ginny- Weaponry

Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, Flint, and Lavender- Unsuited for subject.

"For those who couldn't handle this course, I recommend another subject. Ancient Runes may be better for you."

The students who couldn't handle to course left to schedule in a new class.

"Now for those that have passed the initial test, I will hand out your course books. Treat them right, or I _will_ have Madam Pince on you. Your first assignment is to find what suits you best. For the weaponry course, I want you to find the weapon that fits you. You will receive it within the next few weeks, and will begin your training. Summoners, you will search for your personal Familiar. When you find one, we shall begin bringing them out."

Neko and Harry stayed behind, to get different instructions.

"Since you two are slightly ahead of the class, I want you to bring out the magical properties of a muggle weapon. I don't care what it is, so long as it can be obtained easily without question."

As they left the room, Neko turned to Harry.

"The only weapon that comes to mind is a blade of some sort. Guns are illegal in the UK, and the US has a restriction of three days on them. Not to mention they wouldn't dare sell them to thirteen year olds."

"True. And I don't think she would accept the blades in the house. So who do we owl for this?"

"Not Creed or Charlie. Maybe...I'll think of something."

* * *

In the end they owled Micheal and asked for help. He sent them two long switchblades. They were razor sharp, and had a serrated edge to them. The next week was spent trying to bring out a magical property.

"Everyone finish the assignment? Let's see. Full marks to Draco, Granger, Fred, George, Cho, and Luna. Ten points to each of you. Neko and Harry, I see you've gotten a start on the assignment. Five points for you. The rest of you still need to work on the assignment from last week. Until you can finish that, you will be unable to continue."

The door opened, and Dumbledore walked in. Professor Hikari talked to him in a quiet but irritated voice. He sat down and listened until the end of class.

"Granger, I will show you how to summon your familiar after class. You are to practice this technique until you can do so perfectly. Miss Chang, I will order your weapon after I have spoken to Miss Granger. It should arrive in time for the next class, if we're lucky. Draco, Neko, Harry, and the terror twins, I will speak to you later."

Dumbledore seemed surprised at her hands on approach to teaching. When he saw how she dealt with each student individually, he approved.

He asked her later why she taught them alone instead of a group like every other professor.

"I've found that with a little help from a teacher, they understand the course work better."

* * *

A Ministry official actually came and graded her class, watching her teach and how she dealt with problems that came up. When they left, she awaited the owl that she knew would come. Dumbledore had warned her that new classes always received a Ministry rating, and depending on how well the teacher taught in class that day, this would make or break the class.

The owl came in a week later. In front of her class, she read the document. Everyone cheered at the end.

"_In regards to this new course, we find that it does not teach any aspect of Dark Magic, and that it is an acceptable branch of magic. In further note, we believe Ms. Sakura Hikari's teaching to be noteworthy and competent, as she has gone out of her way to help ailing students in this new branch of magic. Should she teach another year, an OWL may be created to handle this new course._

_Signed, Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic."_

"And here I thought the entire ministry was full of sheep who believed anything."

A series of snorts and shocked gasps filled the room. She grinned.

"Back to work. Now since most of you have completed the first portion of the assignment, it is now time for the practical. This is where the hard part starts."

Now Neko and Harry were on par with the rest of the students. They actually enjoyed being on the same page as their classmates, and found that this new class brought out new things to talk about with their fellow third years.

* * *

It was Hogsmeade weekend, and the two couldn't wait. Despite Dumbledore attempting to at least keep Harry back, they had asked Sakura-sensei for help.

He couldn't come up with an excuse to keep Harry inside when she said to him at breakfast that she would escort the boys 'just-in-case'. He had never seen Severus smirk so widely. He almost gave the other teachers a heart attack!

And that cackle the new teacher let loose at the sight gave him the chills.

"Where to first, boys? Candy store or a drink? Behave and I may let you two have a sip of fire-whiskey."

Neko gaped at her.

"Aren't you supposed to be a teacher?"

"Let's just say I'll be looking the other way if you happen to take a sip from my drink," she quipped.

Somehow, Neko knew this professor and his father would get along famously.

After buying what would normally be a year's worth of fudge, they headed to the bookstore. Seems the one in Hogsmeade had more accurate books.

Sakura-sensei bought three new books, and recommended to the owner that he order some muggle literature. Seems there was an actual demand for it at the school.

Sakura bought three butterbeers and a fire whiskey. The third butterbeer was for Neville, who sat down next to her in order to ask about the class.

"Well Neville, given the fact that you are a genuine herbology prodigy, I would recommend a whip. Or maybe a vine with no magical properties that you can turn into one."

"I can actually imagine Neville with a sword made of woven grass," admitted Neko.

"So can I. Maybe we should find non-magical plants that Neville can grow into a sword?"

"I would count that as part of his weaponry training. It incorporates both magical and muggle learning, and it works with his natural talent."

Neville blushed at her praise, which she only gave when she actually meant it. She even gave him a short list off the top of her head of plants he could try, like bamboo grass. She even told him she would order some for him and Professor Sprout to experiment with.

As they left the pub, Harry and Neko growled. Ron Weasly was clearly trying to find and or cast a nasty hex on them.

"Is there a problem Mr. Weasly?"

"No Professor. I just wanted to spend some time with my classmates."

"If I hear you've been cursing fellow students, Mr. Weasly, I will have you banned from the village for a year."

"Yes Professor."

"Good. I believe it's time for you to return to the castle, Neko and Harry," smirked Sakura.

The boys were laughing at the shocked look on Ron's face as they walked up to the castle. The Dementors were out in full force, apparently there had been an attack on the Fat Lady.

Harry felt sorry for the woman, who had to deal with Fred and George everyday. So the next morning he went on a mild search and found her. After realizing the boy would actually listen to her, she promised to alert him whenever they changed the password.

(It turns out that the heirs of any house automatically were alerted to the new password, regardless of what house they were in.)

'Hello pranking opportunities.'

* * *

The Gryffindor house was hit with a rather spectacular bout of pranks, thanks to a mysterious villain known to all as Olympus. When Ravenclaw and Slytherin were hit on the same night at the exact same time, the teachers knew it had to be at least two, possibly three students at work.

The twins were considered, but it was public knowledge that they were hit first when the pranks began.

"I'd love to get my hands on this one," growled McGonagall.

"Clearly it is either a Gryffindor who got his hands on the Slytherin password and got lucky with Ravenclaw, or a Slytherin that obtained the Gryffindor password and overheard the other," said Flitwick.

'Or it could be all three. An heir can claim the right of passage to the rooms, and they are in residence.'

The first thing Snape did when he got back to his office was have Draco bring in Neko, Mizuki and Harry.

"Alright you three. I know you are the ones responsible for that series of pranks last week."

Draco gaped.

"How on earth did you figure it out? We covered our tracks!" protested Neko.

"Please. I didn't live through my school years with those blasted Marauders and not learn how to pick up on the obvious."

"The Marauders?" asked Draco.

"Niko and Harry's fathers. They were also known as Padfoot, Moony and Prongs. I'm sure Lupin suspects you."

"Uncle Moony knows it was us. He helped to plan the ones on Gryffindor," snorted Harry.

"But how on earth did you get in? Gryffindor is our rival house!" said Draco.

"There is a very little known by-law in the school rules. The heirs of the four houses are granted the privilege of the password, even if they are in another house. It was written on the grounds that the Founder's heirs would be natural leaders in times of crisis, and the headmaster has no power to revoke this."

"I'm the heir of Gryffindor, and I asked Flitwick a similar riddle to get that password. I claimed it was for a crossword puzzle."

"And he didn't suspect anything?"

"Nope."

"So long as you don't go after the heads of those houses, or me, I will keep this to myself. This school could use a little stirring up."

When he questioned Ms. Hikari, she cackled and said "I plead the fifth."

To which McGonagall reminded her that she was in the wrong country for that one.

"Not true. I am an American citizen, and those rights don't end at the borders."

Which lead to a debate on muggle politics and treaties.

* * *

Sirius howled with laughter when he read the report from Moony. Seems his son and godson took after him and James more than he thought! And he had to meet this new teacher. She sounded interesting.

Sirius came to Hogsmeade in time for the weekend. Neko, Harry and Sakura were walking down when they ran into him, literally.

"SIRIUS!"

"Dad!"

Both boys glomped the man and had their teacher howling with laughter.

"I was wondering if your teacher wouldn't mind me accompanying you?"

"You just want to go on a date," she snorted.

Sirius feigned being hurt, despite it being true.

"I already have a boyfriend."

"What does he think about not seeing your lovely face for several months of the year?" asked Neko.

"Honestly? He feels sorry for you lot."

"Why?" asked Harry.

"Because, and I quote..." started Sakura when an unfamiliar voice interrupted.

"It's better for her craziness to be contained in a school than let loose. Hello dear," grinned the newcomer.

Three wizards stared in shock at his hair color. It was white...not a platinum blond like Draco's or a silvery blond like Luna, but pure white!

"Meet my boyfriend, Bakura Shiroyuki."

"Very funny. Just call me Bakura."

Something about him sent warning signals in all of their minds. But since it wasn't directed at them, Neko let it go.

The next class they had was interesting. Sakura brought an actual laptop, and demonstrated that it would work within the wards if one gave it magical power. And her personal favorite, free wireless Internet within the school!

She even mentioned that from now on she would be playing random music in class.

(She had a few girls howling with laughter when the first song she played was 'I'm a Barbie Girl'.)

They learned something interesting about their favorite teacher. She loved anime songs. About half of her playlist was Japanese. And she could sing very well when asked.

* * *

They were working on summoning the week she brought in her boyfriend. Several females in the school were very interested in her love life, as she was easily the most popular teacher in Hogwarts, next to Lupin.

Many of the girls cooed over her boyfriend Bakura, who was a master of summoning, among other things. He was allowed in on the grounds that Sakura needed a bit of assistance teaching the finer aspects of the class while she worked on the weaponry students.

Dumbledore never knew what hit him when all four houses were pranked, especially him! And he never suspected that Bakura and Sakura were to blame this time!

As the twins praised whoever pulled it off, the two grinned. Not even Neko and Harry knew it was them.

* * *

So when Christmas rolled around, Sakura had a special surprise for those who managed to get to magical creature summoning.

It seemed very few of her students were ready to start what she referred to as Reverse-Summoning.

Harry, Neko, Hermione, Draco, Neville, Luna and the twins were eager to try this. Sakura-sensei had made a few passing remarks about the subject, and had yet to demonstrate.

"First off, since you are staying for the holidays for whatever reason, I want you to practice in your common room or in here, in pairs only. Some of the places you will go to will be safer if you have a partner, and I may switch you around."

"Where do we go first?" asked Hermione, a quiver with excitement.

"It depends. Do you want a normal fantasy or a science fiction adventure?" grinned Sakura.

Hermione Granger, the misplaced Ravenclaw, actually gave a fangirl squeal when Sakura brought out the books. Needless to say, every single one of them turned and looked at her in outright shock.

"What sort of books do you have?"

"Lord of the Rings, Anne McCafferey's Dragonriders of Pern series, Dune, all three of the Dragonlance Chronicles, and a few Simon R. Green books that you can read later."

Hermione had a visibly difficult time staying still.

"Alright, for starters, Reverse-summoning is almost exactly how it sounds. Instead of bringing someone or something to you, you go to it. I generally use this trick to avoid international flights...or port-keys, which are a real bitch over long distances."

This is the true reason she is the favorite of practically every student she comes across. She has no problem using swear words. Lupin was likable in general.

"The first thing we're going to do is pick pairs. Fred and George, Neko and Harry, Luna and Hermione, and finally Neville and Draco. I want each of you to stick with your partner until you find the exit. Now before we even attempt going into the books, I will discuss the world you will go into first."

As she describe the world, which she called 'Naruto-verse', Neko and Harry let out a cheer.

"So you've read the series?"

"We OWN the series!" said Harry, grinning.

"Good. Then you and Neko will lead Fred and George around. I recommend introducing them to Naruto. Hermione, Luna, Draco and Neville will be with me as soon as I get something."

She walked out with a headband. She put it around her neck, and then demonstrated how to reverse-summon.

"Kura, you watch over the boys. And introduce Haku and Sasuke. We're off to annoy the hell out of that twit Haruno."

Neko's group went in first, then Sakura-sensei held onto Luna's as they went in.

"Hey Harry!" yelled Naruto.

"Huh? How does he know my name?"

"Oops. She must have sent us to our default Naruto-verse by mistake...which means Haruno is with Tsunade and Shizune."

"There's more than one Naruto-verse?" asked Neko.

"Yeah, in this one, Sasuke is Harry's twin brother who was somehow separated from him at birth, Haku is still alive, and they are all on the same team."

"Hi! Oh, wait, you're not the Harry we're used to, are you?" said Naruto.

"Nope, but he and the cat-kid are pranksters. Care to plot against the houses again?"

Naruto's fox-grin grew evil. Soon the downfall of Hogwarts would be complete.

* * *

"Oh dear. I must have picked the default one by mistake again."

"What exactly does that mean?" asked Hermione.

"It means the headmaster is doomed. I almost feel sorry for him. Naruto knows about magic, and with the terror twins, the kittens and Bakura in one group...let's just say we should go to ground for a few weeks, tops. Best to let nature run it's course with that lot."

Halfway through the week they spent in that world, they were attacked by foreign ninjas.

* * *

Sakura fended them off long enough for her group to escape into the portal. Then jumped in after them.

Bakura's group arrived back to the classroom earlier, since Naruto knew where the portal was and Harry was smart enough to ask directions.

So when they saw the disheveled look of the other group, the howls of laughter could be heard outside.

"Run into trouble?"

"Damn Sound Ninja. How the hell did they find me so bloody fast?"

"It's your luck?"

"I see you also found the boys. Tell me, how bad will it be?"

"Hide for the next month when everyone comes back."

"Warn Remus and Snape."

Poor, poor Hogwarts.


End file.
